Southern people do not necessarily give their children stupid names. There are some southerners who have pretty, nice, and normal names.
Plus I don't think Geneva is a stupid name and it is also a name of a city somewhere in Europe; and naming your child after a place can work out for the best: Asia, Virginia, Brooklyn, Dallas, one of my best friends is named after Guadalupe, etc.
Plus other people not from the south have given their children dumb names, Gwyneth Paltrow anybody?

Glad you said STUPID because I did not.
A lot of Southern names are family surnames. They are Southern after all.

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__________________"Not MGM, not the press, not anyone can tell me what to do."--Ava Gardner

I found something which I think is interesting. A few statistics about the use of the name "Wallis" in the USA. The highest usage is in those people who are in the 70 year age group. Wallis Simpson and her notoriety would have been at a height 70 + years ago. Did her fame lead a lot of American parents to call their children after her. ?

Today we seem to be highly influenced by celebrities with many people naming their children after them. Maybe W.E. will bring the name "Wallis" to a new generation with people finding her a romantic figure and subsequently call their daughters after her. ??

God I hope not. Wallis is an atrocious name for a girl and Bessie is hardly any better. I have no idea where some of you live that you think cutesy names for girls are the norm; I have never met a Bambi, Barbie, Bunny or Flower in my life. The only problems I have been told about is from the older generation warning me not to give my children ethnic sounding names.

God I hope not. Wallis is an atrocious name for a girl and Bessie is hardly any better. I have no idea where some of you live that you think cutesy names for girls are the norm; I have never met a Bambi, Barbie, Bunny or Flower in my life. The only problems I have been told about is from the older generation warning me not to give my children ethnic sounding names.

Am not mad about Bessie either. Don't know about cutsey names but certainly many young kids with whom I have come into contact with through work have been named after celebrities, i.e. Kylie, Beyonce, Shania etc. We also had loads of Crystals and Alexis's after Dynasty became huge over here.
While these names may have been common in other parts of the world they would not have been in use here in Ireland until these celebrities appeared on the scene.